Never let anyone other than you, such as wait staff and cashiers, throw away your supposedly zero-balance gift cards. After only a year in the Gene Grawe Fund program, I have had several supposedly zero-balance gift cards show up later with balances. The largest was $32.16 and the smallest was $3.56.

We recommend keeping and destroying your zero balance gift cards only after you’ve checked them a few weeks since last use. Merchants refund charges or returns back to the card used. Restaurants place holds and make multiple charges such as meal costs, bar drinks, and tips that are processed in the first few days after dining out. Sometimes, it doesn’t always add up later to what the waitress saw. If a few dollars end up back on the card and it’s in the local landfill, then it’s your money down the drain. When multiple cards are used to pay for one transaction, that complicates things even more. But, you’ll never know it if any cards were thrown out by the cashier.

UPDATE 6/28/2018: Today, I shredded my pile of supposedly empty gift cards. As I was checking the cards for any balances, I discovered a Five Back Visa with $36.66 on it. As I studied its transaction history I found the last transaction was a hold that had expired and put $36.66 back on the card. I had last used that card a couple months ago.

UPDATE 9/14/2019: Today, I shredded about a 4-month pile of used-up gift cards. As I was checking the cards for any balances, I discovered three Five Back Visas with a total of $30.92 on them! As I studied their transaction histories, I found two promotional loads and an expired hold. I am very, very careful in how I manage our household’s Gene Grawe Fund program, and I still find positive balance gift cards trying to slip through. So I promise you that if you’re not holding onto your used-up gift cards for a few months before you check them one last time, you’re probably throwing money away.